The Search for Memories
by TehFallenOne
Summary: 30 years into the future. Sonic has been defeated by an evil warrior and Eggman has taken over the world. How has this happened? Are there other heroes to fight the oppression? The fate of the world rests on one lone hedgehog and what allies he can find.
1. Chapter 1

A young, pink hedgehog scurries through a large jungle of menacing metal skyscrapers when suddenly, she stops dead in her tracks when she's faced down by a unit of orange, egg shaped robots carrying lances and assault rifles, EggPawns. The young girl screams and takes off running, EggPawns in hot pursuit. The girl ducks into an alley and hides behind a dumpster, fingers crossed in hopes that it'll ward off the merciless robots hunting her down. She looks around her immediate surroundings and finds that she's sitting next to another hedgehog, who is apparently dead. This hedgehog is full grown with red fur, quills that go down to his waist, lightly armored gloves, and aged green boots with a white stripe running down them lengthwise. The young girl thinks quickly and pulls up some old cardboard boxes uses them to look like another corpse while hiding her face. The EggPawns walk into view, the girl watching silently as they look around, not very efficiently, to find her. The robots turn to leave when suddenly, the girl feels a tickling feeling on her nose.

"Ah… ah… ACHOO!"

"Target acquired, proceeding to collect," one of the robots, which has a large white crest painted on each arm, declares in a monotone voice. The other robots circle around the girl. The crested leader picks her up and slings her over its shoulder. The regiment of EggPawns turns to leave the alley, with the Captain in back. The Captain turns away from its squad when it notices a hand on its shoulder. The EggPawn turns to face the red hedgehog.

"Put the girl down, or I'll tear you to scrap," he says, cracking his knuckles and popping his neck.

"Do not threaten an officer of the law, or you shall be taken into custody for assault and obstruction of justice," the Captain Robo states blandly.

"Oh yeah? You and what army?" the hedgehog chuckles confidently, motioning to the squad of robots. The Captain turns to find his entire squad torn to ribbons. The red hero grabs the young girl from the Captain's grip as he kicks it away. The robot flails backwards, getting impaled on one of it's trooper's lances.

"You saved the day! Yay!" the little girl cheers. The red hedgehog smiles warmly as he walks further into the alley, carrying the little girl

"Is there anyplace in particular you'd like me to drop such a pretty little girl like you off at?" he asks warmly.

"Yes, could you take me to my Aunty Rose's place? It's just a little further down the path and to the right just before the wall with all the names on it," the little girl says quietly. The red savior nods and continues along his path. The two reach a wall with graffiti all over it. The red hedgehog turns to the right and sees… nothing. No door, no stairway, no nothing. The girl abruptly jumps out of the hedgehog's arms and runs to a portion of the wall that has a rose painted on it in high detail. "Aunty Rose! I'm home!"

The wall slides aside, revealing a pink hedgehog that looks to be in her late forties early fifties.

"Oh sweetie. I was so worried. Who's this handsome young man?" the woman says sweetly, motioning for the red hedgehog to come in. "Hey! Tool boy! We got a guest!"

"What was that Amy? A guest? You know I'm busy working," a man, about his early forties yells back.

"A pleasure to meet you ma'am. Your niece here got cornered by some EggPawns. I pulled her fat out of the fire before she got burnt," the red hedgehog says politely.

"Aww. Such a gentleman, would you like some tea?"

"Why thank you Ma'am."

* * *

><p>A gloved hand picks up a chunk of metal from the EggPawns in the alley. In a fury, the being the arm's attached to crushes the scrap of plating into bits, then punches the wall, leaving a perfectly round indent with two points into it.<p>

"We got rebel activity in the Beta Quadrant. Send reinforcements."


	2. Chapter 2

"So what's your name, dear?" Amy asks excitedly, ushering the red hedgehog into a seat on a weathered old couch.

"Lee. My name's Lee," he responds casually. "If you don't mind me asking, why all the secrecy? I mean don't the Egg-Robo only go after people who break laws?"

"That stipulation doesn't help when you're 'public enemy' number one," Amy says bluntly, "that and we gotta' protect the kiddos." She motions to several children playing and running around. Lee smiles softly. A two little bees, about ten or eleven, catch his eye. An older bee, in his very early fortys, comes in and picks the two children up in a bear hug. Lee watches the older bee intensely, the man vaguely familiar, until the older bee and him lock eyes. The older bee comes over, a frustrated look on his face.

"Amy, care to explain why there's a bum sitting on my couch?" he groans, giving Amy a death glare.

"Hey! I built that thing outta wood chips and cotton balls, don't you take credit for my work," an angry voice yells from another room.

"He saved little Miri. He took out an entire squad of K Units alone. I think he deserves a rest," Amy explains bluntly and coldly. "And if you have a problem with the safety of the kids, you can take your kids and go."

"Fine. Do whatever you want, not like I'd win the argument. Just take out your stupid ass hammer and beat me with it," Charmy groans in displeasure. He turns to Lee, a harsh expression. "You pull anything, I'll turn you to Swiss cheese." Lee shrugs casually. The bee scowls and storms out of the room.

"You'll have to mind his anger. His wife died when his hometown, the Goldenhive Colony, resisted. He hasn't trusted anybody since his best friends were murdered right in front of him," Amy whispers apologetically.

"So these are you nieces and nephews?" Lee asks for lack of good response.

"No, they started calling me Auntie Rose because I was like an aunt to them. I was the only one who cared. I'm not embarrassed of that title, I'm proud of it," Amy responds proudly. Lee nods, a tear forming in the edge of his eye.

"I should leave, thank you for having me," he says, stepping around Amy.

"Before you leave, go see Tails in the back. I asked him to make something for you as a reward for saving Miri," she says, giving Lee a peck on cheek.

"Thank you Ma'am," he says humbly.

"And if you ever need a rest just come back and I'll let you in, just be careful of Charmy," Amy includes. Lee nods and heads to the back room to see Tails. He's faced by a two-tailed fox, just older than Charmy, with greying yellow-orange fur.

"So you're the one who saved little Miri. Amy 'asked' me to whip these up for you," Tails says, handing the red hedgehog a pair of grey metal boots, "They're hyper-friction resistantjet shoes. With these on you can run damn fast, and when you hit a pressure switch under the big toe, they use a set of mini-jet engines that'll make you go even faster." Lee nods, taking off his green boots and replacing them with the jet shoes.

"Thank you, sir," he says, nodding. The red hedgehog rolls down his black socks to be around his ankles.

"They're powered by motion, kind of like those flashlights that you shake to make work, so they should be able to run indefinetly. Just remember to use a skating motion," Tails says, turning back to his work table, which has a Chaos Emerald and many, many sets of schematics, some entirely scribbled over.

"Have a nice day," Lee says, leaving the hidden home.

"Yeah yeah," Tails grunts as the stone door slides shut. Lee steps down the dilapitated alley, back the way he came. He rounds a random corner to come face to face with a squad of five EggPawns.

"Oh damn," he mutters, backing up.

"Oh no, don't run. I've got a proposition for you," a voice says. An echnidna wearing a large metal helmet with two Chaos Emeralds in it, who is a red much more vibrant than Lee, steps out from behind the robots.

"Who the hell are you?" Lee demands, backing up against a wall.

"I'm Knuckles, and I've a proposition for you from Eggman," the echidna says, getting in Lee's face.

"I'm listening…" the red hedgehog says hesitantly. Knuckles laughs, backing away from Lee.

"You come with me to Eggman. He studies your biology, he makes you invincible," the former guardian of the Master Emerald states.

"Invincible my ass, I took out an entire unit in less than a second," Lee mumbles, leaning casually against the wall.

"You just asked for the hard way. Kill 'im," Knuckles orders, the EggPawns closing in on Lee. The hedgehog scowls, activating his jet shoes. He leaps over the group of robots naturally, landing as gracefully as an Olympic gold medal gymnast.

"Heh, that was awesome," he chuckles. The hedgehog wheels around and lands a solid kick to one of the EggPawns, using his jet shoes to send it flying into a wall. The closest Pawn swings with its lance, narrowly missing as Lee jumps over the lance. The hedgehog comes down with an axe kick to the head of the Pawn, turning the machine into a metal pancake. The next Pawn sprays madly with its assault rifle at the hostile, which Lee easily slides under in order to deliver a left cross to the face, sending the robot's head flying further into the alley. One of the remaining Pawns takes a shot, hitting Lee in the arm. The red hedgehog grits his teeth, his other hand clamping down on the bleeding wound. He finishes off the offender with a roundhouse kick. The last robot, armed with only a lance, backs up. It holds up its arms as if pleading for mercy. Lee scowls as the machine hides behind its master.

"Pathetic machine," the echidna says, grabbing his subordinate by the head. He crushes the head with no effort whatsoever, grunting angrily as chunks of metal and thick oil globs fall from his hand. "You should've let the bots take care of you. Now it's my turn, and I'm the strongest man in the world."

"Come on, then. Or are you too scared to get close to me?" Leif taunts. Knuckles rushes in with great speed and strength, pinning Lee to a wall by the chest.

"Too slow, now you're dead!" the angered echidna says. The Chaos Emeralds on his helmet glow with energy. Lee takes a stab in the dark as he reaches for the closest Emerald. Colored lightning emanates from the helmet as Lee tries to pull the Emerald from the helmet as Knuckles presses harder on his chest. Lee howls in pain as Knuckles roars in a mix of fury and pain. The hedgehog manages to pull the Emerald free, but hears and feels several loud cracks as his ribcage starts to give way. With the removal of the Emerald, Knuckles lets up and backs away. The echidna drops to his knees, his expression switching between confusion and rage. "What's happening to me?"

As Knuckles suffers through his mixed emotions, Lee stares at the Chaos Emerald. Two words come into his mind.

"Chaos Control!"


End file.
